Sunday, January 27, 2002 was particularly a gloomy day for many families in Lagos State. The trouble, which eventually sent many to their graves prematurely, started around 5pm when there was a sudden explosion, akin to that of an earthquake. The loud bang shook the entire Lagos city, as if bombs were detonated behind the windows of each of the residents.
Being an unprecedented occurrence and not knowing what was actually happening, people, understandably, started running helter-skelter. And whilst scampering for safety, they heard several other explosions, of same intensity, and in the imagination of many, it was as if another war had started. The vibration shattered windows, roofs and brought down buildings several kilometres away.
Unknown to many, the explosion, which sounded for about seven times and almost ripped the metropolitan city apart, was coming from Ikeja Military Cantonment. It was later gathered that some high calibre bombs kept underground at the military facility were not well stored, which led to the accidental discharge of the bombs. Another version said there was a fire outbreak at the Armoured Technical Dump within the facility which later spread to where the bombs were stored and triggered the deadly explosions.
Within seconds, there was commotion across the city, and as people were running for their lives, the stampede led to deaths, and by the minute, the death toll began to rise. Thus, across the city, dead bodies littered the streets. Out of panic, people jumped into fire, some ran into moving vehicles and were knocked down while some were burnt to death by the raging fire. While those situations were incredibly unfortunate, one location that seemed to record the highest number of deaths was a large canal at Ajao Estate which links Oke Afa in Isolo. Unfortunately, the canal (filled with water) had been covered by water hyacinth, and as people ran into the supposed ‘bush’, they were being drowned in the water. People stepped on themselves and many more were drowned. Children, parents and several others were killed, while some families were completely wiped off.
By the time the last bomb went off and a bit of calmness returned to the city the following day, over 1,000 persons were found to have died, several others went missing and had not been found till date, while several thousands were displaced and thousands had varying degrees of injuries. It was one accident too many.
Following the incident, the Federal Government, under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the Lagos State government promised to compensate the victims’ families. But owing to delay in fulfilling the promises, a man who lost two of his children to the incident, Mr. Olaniran Majekodunmi, brought other affected families together to form a group to compel the government to fulfil its promise. In this interview with TUNDE AJAJA, Majekodunmi shares his pains, what happened on that day, life after the incident and the update on compensation the Federal and Lagos State governments promised victims
It’s 15 years after the Ikeja Cantonment bomb blasts which claimed lives of thousands, including those of your two children, how have you been coping since then, more so that you live around the cenotaph?
I try not to put it in mind, because God has replaced the children I lost. Thinking about what happened wouldn’t undo anything, so, I’ve moved on. Till date, we feel cheated by the state and the Federal Government but life has to go on. I pass the place (cenotaph) almost every day and I would just look at the place and move on. There is nothing I can do. My son is there, in fact, his name is the first on the list, but I’m not sure of my little girl because I didn’t see her corpse till date.
Where were you that day?
That Sunday, we all ate together in the morning and I went to drop them in church before leaving for Ikorodu to say hello to my brother. I was on my way back around 5pm at Maryland when I heard a loud explosion. I was confused. I didn’t know what to think. Nobody knew what was happening. All I saw was that there was commotion everywhere. People were running helter-skelter when we heard the second explosion. At that point, I thought soldiers in the barracks were fighting and that caused the explosions because people were rushing out from that barracks area. So, with the commotion, I pulled over and opened my doors for people to enter. I carried as many people as my car could contain.
All that time, I never knew something terrible was happening in my own house. I drove down to my house at Mafoluku in Oshodi, with those people in the car. It was when we drove close to Ikeja that we saw many people running out from the cantonment. When I got home, I couldn’t see any member of my family. My wife and my children were nowhere to be found.
What did you do at that moment?
I was lost. I was asking people; where are my children? Where is my wife? What happened to them? Where did they go? But nobody answered me because I didn’t even know the faces I was seeing. Everybody was busy running helter-skelter. People came from different parts of Lagos to that place, so nobody understood what I was talking about. Even my neighbours were nowhere to be found. There was commotion everywhere. Nobody was around. I was confused.
When the people I carried saw that my family members were nowhere to be found, they left one after the other. I didn’t even see them again. When I kept shouting, I heard somebody pointing at the direction they followed. I didn’t know what to do. Some people on my street who were also looking for their own families joined me. I was a popular person in Mafoluku then, so I was lucky to see some people that recognised me. And remember that mobile phone was not as popular as it is now, so there was no way to reach them than to look for them among the crowd. Throughout that day, I couldn’t make headway and of course I couldn’t sleep. I kept moving from one place to another, looking for my wife and five children.
Did you at any point think they were gone?
I didn’t even know what to think. I kept looking for them. While moving from one place to another, I saw a lot of dead bodies, so as I was looking around to see if I would come across any of them by chance, I was occasionally looking at the corpses on the ground to see if any of them could be one of them. Even though I didn’t hope they would die, the corpses were too many. The corpses were more than one thousand; they littered everywhere. When I didn’t see them, I focused on looking at the dead bodies to see if my own was there. But thankfully, as I was moving about that second day, I saw my daughter, a twin. She was even the one who called me where I was busy looking at the corpses. I also saw my first daughter. They called me to come and see Taiwo; the other twin, close to that canal at Ajao Estate. He was dead, lying lifeless among several others. I thought I was dreaming. I couldn’t believe it, but I was conscious of the fact that out of six, I had found three, with two alive and one dead. All those times, I thought my eight months old baby would be with my wife and that I would still see my other boy, who was about 10 years old.
When did you see your wife?
I saw her that second day, but she had been taken to the church around Egbeda after she was rescued. She also fell inside the canal. In fact, it was a bamboo stick that they used to draw her out, else, she wouldn’t have made it too. I know how much I spent to treat her. Apparently, the baby fell off her back in the course of the stampede. It only stands to reason that the baby could not survive it, because even adults could not, not to talk of a seven-month old. They called me on the phone. So, until I saw her, I never knew my baby was gone. And till date, we never saw the corpse. After that, it remained my 10-year-old son, who was later found in Somolu. From Mafoluku to Somolu, I don’t know how he got there. Even my daughter (twin) that I found, we met at Ile Iwe Bus Stop, around Ikotun. She and the one that died were 13 years old at that time.
Did you bother finding out how the twin, Taiwo, died?
He also died in that canal at Ajao Estate. I learnt what could have killed him was that he was carrying a bag on his back, thinking war had started. Remember I wasn’t at home, but I was told that when the explosions were shaking everywhere, they went to pack some loads, thinking war had started. They packed some clothes and he carried the bag, being the oldest boy among them. So, as he fell, that bag was heavy and that made it difficult for him to stand up. He must have died in the stampede. We miss him. He always made us laugh and he was a very brilliant child. He was in JSS3 at 13 years. So, out of my five children, I lost two, but I still thank God. The other twin is now a chartered accountant working in a bank. If he was alive, he would have been somewhere too, and he was also a very intelligent and lovable person.
When it was clear to you that you had lost two children, more so that you couldn’t even find the corpse of one of them, how did you manage the shock?
I had stopped smoking for 10 years before that day, but that day, seeing that I lost two of my children, I couldn’t bear it. I didn’t know what to do. I bought packets of cigarettes and some alcoholic drinks and I started smoking and drinking. I used to work in the local government, so people came from my office to commiserate with me. After smoking and drinking, I started thanking God.
Did that approach help?
It helped, because I didn’t worry about it again, unless when people greeted me. It helped me to overcome it.
Do you think anything would have changed if you were at home that day?
Do you think anything would have changed if you were at home that day?
Yes, they would not have died. I would have put them in the car, since staying inside was like a death sentence too, because the explosion broke our asbestos sheets and no one could stay inside because it was as if the house would collapse. I would have put all of them in my car and drive away. I wish I was at home. It wouldn’t have happened. That incident made me realise that there is no government.
We learnt your wife is a prophetess. Was there any prediction that such was about to happen?
My wife saw it. And she said it, but God didn’t show her exactly how it was going to happen. So, she didn’t know exactly the way it would happen. Since she saw it, she would never go close to a water body. She saw something about water, but she didn’t know exactly what it meant. That was it. Ignorance and panicking killed those people that died. When they were running into that canal, it didn’t know it was leaves that just covered it.
They were trying to outrun themselves. The crowd was overwhelming. Even my daughter that escaped also fell inside the ditch, but she was able to escape because the school I sent her to then, they were being taught swimming. In fact, we learnt people didn’t realise the tragedy until they discovered that people who were rushing into the canal were not coming out from the other side. It was then other people raised the alarm that people were drowning. It was even worse that people were stepping on themselves and even when some were rescued, they could not be easily identified because of the dirt in the canal. There were over 1,000 dead bodies. It was unfortunate.
When were the victims buried?
The mass burial was done the day after the incident, but some people removed the corpses of their loved ones that very day. They brought in the bodies that were taken to the mortuaries at Isolo and Ikeja general hospitals. But they didn’t do the cenotaph until about 10 years after and it was after I fought the state government to do it and fix the road there. It was never an easy task, but God helped me. It was that incident that made me to run away from Mafoluku to my own house because my wife was often disturbed with the memory.
We learnt you formed the Victims Family Group. What informed that move?
After the incident, I travelled abroad. It was when I came back that I decided to form the group. The Federal Government and the state government promised to compensate the families that were affected, but nothing was forthcoming. So we were making moves, but since there was no response from anybody, we went to Femi Falana (SAN) to be our lawyer, and he assigned one of the lawyers in his chambers, late Mr. Solomon to be in charge. But there was still no response from anybody. I didn’t give up. I fought the Lagos State government to release some money and it did eventually. Out of the over 150 families that were affected, the state government released N250,000 for each family. Till date, the Lagos State government refused to pay the remaining 80 families. Since then, there has been no progress on when the other 80 families would be paid. We have written a lot of letters to the state government, but no response. We wrote to the House of Assembly, no response or debate.
We just keep watching, looking forward to what would happen next. Also, the Federal Government gave relief package, which was N500,000 per victim, but till date, some have not been paid. I’m talking openly and authoritatively. Anytime I pass through that place, I’m never happy with the government, because they could have done better. In other climes, they would compensate the victims, not because the money would erase their sorrow or bring back the dead, but it shows some concern. Whether they like it or not, government killed those people, because we learnt it was avoidable, and more importantly, the explosion was from the facility of a federal institution.
Your grouse should be with the Federal Government and not Lagos State government. Isn’t it?
We don’t blame the state government, we blame the Federal Government, first for the avoidable incident and second, that 15 years after, the promise by the Federal Government through the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation at Tafawa Balewa Square that all affected families would be compensated had not been wholly fulfilled. Only some were paid. On the other hand, the money donated to the families of the victims by non-governmental organisations, which the state government collected, was not remitted to the victims’ families. Till date, we don’t know where the money went to. Where is it? It was a terrible day for the affected families, how can somebody or a system take the money meant for such people?
Do you have an idea of how much?
Caskets of victims before mass burial at Oke Afa, Isolo
We are talking about billions here, not even millions. If you recall, that period was a historic moment in the history of this country. It was a monumental tragedy, thus in the spirit of the many deaths and losses, individuals, churches, multinationals, etc., donated to the families of the victims and the state government took delivery of all those donations on our behalf. I’m telling you today that we didn’t see anything, not even N1 from that donation. I didn’t see any, and I asked my members, nobody saw anything. It is not the donation that would wake up our loved ones that died, but how can people lose their loved ones, and government would still steal their entitlements? Please, help us ask the state government at that time what happened to the donations. Maybe that was why they gave some of us N250,000 to close our mouth.
I would have rejected that money, but people said we should collect it. So, I obliged. My question every day is what happened to that money. I had to tone down my advocacy on asking for government to account for that money because I want to be alive to take care of my remaining children. We wrote a lot of letters during President Goodluck Jonathan’s government and even to the state government, but nothing came out of it. Government killed those people. We had families that lost six children. Mine was two, some families were completely wiped out. Some are missing and could not find their people up till date. How then can somebody or some people take the money meant for those people? That thing makes me sad. And anytime I pass through that place, I’m pained about the way the state government and the Federal Government treated the victims. Don’t forget that those explosions were avoidable. So, since it was their (government) undoing, they should have taken full responsibility and provide help for the families.
We learnt the state government made provision for scholarship. Is that right?
We learnt the state government made provision for scholarship. Is that right?
The state government tricked us. They said they wanted to give scholarship to the children in the affected families. We thought it would be to university level, because we must bear in mind that families lost their breadwinners, some children lost their parents, and parents lost their children. We didn’t know the scholarship they promised was for just a term. They tricked us.
They paid them N100,000. I even took them to collect it, hoping it would continue, but that was it. They also organised a training programme for people that were affected. After that, there was nothing, not even a certificate. I think they shouldn’t have promised anything when they knew they were not ready. I was once arrested by officials of the State Security Service (Department of State Services) when we started the fight. They came to my house several times immediately I did a press conference, but I wasn’t always around. They kept threatening my tenants. They later arrested me and detained me for some hours at their office in Magodo. I challenged them to lock me up. I then invited the Civil Liberties Organisation to join me. In fact, I had confrontation with the governor (Raji Fashola) several times. Till date, all we heard about the incident was that some bombs kept in the bunker at the cantonment exploded. They killed our children. But we have moved on.
My wife has also overlooked it. She doesn’t mention it again. I’m sure she will more likely remember the horror of that day if they plan to do anything there, like a remembrance service. If state government would not pay any other money to the victims’ families, let them pay the remaining 80 families. That was the promise they made. The reason why I stopped and handed over to another person was that someone in government called me and advised me to tone down my advocacy so that the state government would not embarrass me. But, it’s painful.
The bomb went off in Ikeja, close to Maryland, would you know why Oke Afa in Isolo recorded the highest casualties?
Across Lagos metropolis that day, people were running for safety, but what made the situation worse at Oke Afa was that people were trying to escape through a supposed open space covered with low-level bushes at Ajao Estate, not knowing it was a canal that had hyacinth. So, many ran into it, but never came out alive.
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